The 24-Hour Customer
New Rules for Winning in a Time-Starved, Always-Connected Economy
By: Adrian C. Ott
Published: August 10, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 0061798614
ISBN-13: 978-0061798610
Publisher: HarperBusiness
"Today, time isn't money. Time is more important than money", writes renowned business strategist and founder and CEO of Exponential Edge Inc., Adrian C. Ott in her groundbreaking and insightful book The 24-Hour Customer: New Rules for Winning in a Time-Starved, Always-Connected Economy. The author describes time as being more critical today for companies than brand recognition, product features, authenticity, and any of the other myriad of priorities considered by business leaders.
Adrian Ott challenges the conventional wisdom on the value of time, and how companies are approaching the entire concept of how consumers factor time into their decision making process. The ability of a customer to make buying choices around the clock, through the internet and a host of mobile devices, is disrupting standard marketing strategies. The disruptive innovation of how technology is being utilized by time pressured consumers, is changing the face of marketing itself. The dimension of time must now be considered one of the basic premises of marketing for products and services. While time obviously isn't the only consideration for customers, it is a variable that is being overlooked and under appreciated by marketers and their companies.
Adrian Ott (photo left) deconstructs the consumer decision making process as to how time is approached, evaluated, and factors into the overall buying process. The author points out that not all time is considered equal in value. With that seemingly obvious insight, Adrian Ott presents an image of time as one of fluctuating value. At some moments, the individual places less value on time, in performing tasks that are enjoyed and where time value is less important. There are some critical moments, however, where the customer, executives, and marketers will discover the most valuable time. That is the time where a customer's attention is focused. That is also a shrinking window for most people, and as a result, a more concentrated amount of time. Since every aspect of a business has an impact on the customer, limited time and that crucial moment of focused attention, are essential considerations for every product and service offered by a company. The time and attention factors must be part of every step of the product or service development, design, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, and retailing chain.
For me, the power of the book is how Adrian C. Ott demonstrates the vital importance of understanding how customers consider time, and how they focus their attention at the critical buying moment. Companies that unlock the time value and attention code will disrupt the marketplace, and transform themselves into organizations where time is a crucial product and service delivery factor. The author provides a strong balance in the book of theory, strategies, tactics, and real world examples of time consideration as a key marketing component. This very readable and engaging book presents a valuable contribution to the marketing world, through the examination of time and focus as overlooked elements by many marketers.
Adrian Ott guides the reader through the time and technology relationship, and how customers are available around the clock in the modern world. At the same time, she goes beyond simply describing the 24-hour customer, but delves in depth into why the constantly connected customer behavior is more than simple added hours. Indeed, the author shares the concept that even with longer connection hours, the average person still feels shorter than ever of available time. Adrian Ott shows businesses how and why understanding this phenomenon correctly is essential in today's ever faster business environment.
I highly recommend the essential and must read book The 24-Hour Customer: New Rules for Winning in a Time-Starved, Always-Connected Economy by Adrian C. Ott, to any business leaders and marketers who are serious about the critical importance of time and attention to their customers. Along with the traditional four P's of marketing, time must be considered as an added dimension to the entire marketing strategy. Companies who are able to use time considerations, to disrupt their competitors, will find themselves emerging as industry leaders.
Read the timely and fascinating book The 24-Hour Customer: New Rules for Winning in a Time-Starved, Always-Connected Economy by Adrian C. Ott, and put the value of time to work for your company. As the author so correctly puts it, time is now more important than money. Rethinking how a company looks at time, technology, and their integration into their customer's highly focused decision making process is the new frontier for successful companies.
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